Apple’s ‘Time Flies’ event took place a couple of days ago and during that event, Apple unveiled a handful of new products with significant upgrades which include the new Apple Watch series, iPads, and also released the latest version of iOS. iOS 14 has brought forward several new features and many existing ones getting important updates.
According to Apple, iOS 14 will drastically improve the user experience. iOS 14 reimagines the iPhone experience, delivering a major update to the Home Screen with beautifully redesigned widgets and the App Library. App Clips is a new addition to iOS while the Messages app also has received big updates.
Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering said that
Together with iPhone, iOS is central to how we navigate our lives and stay connected, and we are making it even more powerful and easier to use in iOS 14, with the biggest update ever to the Home Screen. We are thrilled to see the incredible ways developers are taking advantage of widgets and App Clips to create new experiences that we think customers are going to love.
Coming to the Home Screen changes, they have received a major redesign. The new widgets present timely information at a glance and can be added in different sizes on any Home Screen page. Smart Stack widgets use on-device intelligence to automatically show the right widget based on usage patterns, location, and time.
At the end of the Home Screen pages is the App Library. The App Library is a new space that automatically organizes all of a user’s apps into one simple view that can be navigated easily. The App Library automatically surfaces apps that are helpful at the moment. Users can also hide Home Screen pages for quick access to the App Library.
Incoming phone calls, Facetime, and Siri notification style has also been redesigned. The new compact design helps users to stay on the screen they were instead of going to the call screen. Picture-in-Picture support has also made it to iOS 14. iPhone users can now watch a video or make a FaceTime call while using another app.
Of the new features in iOS 14 is the App Clips. An App Clip is a small part of an app that is designed to pop up the moment it is needed. App Clips are associated with a particular product or business and load within seconds to complete a specific task. They can be accessed through Apple’s App Clip code, NFC tags as well as QR Codes.
The Messages app has received a powerful update. Users can now pin conversations to the top of the messages list for ease of access to frequently contacted people. New Memoji options in Messages are even more inclusive and diverse with additional hairstyles, headwear, face coverings, and more.
Maps update makes it easier to navigate with new cycling directions, electric vehicle routing, and curated Guides. While cycling, Maps direction will choose the best route for you, taking into account elevation, how busy a street is, and whether there are stairs along the route.
For electric vehicles, Maps will choose routes with charging stops along a planned route based on current vehicle charge and charger types. Guides will provide a list of things to do and places to visit in a city. Guides are a great way to find popular attractions, discover restaurants, and explore a new place you are visiting.
In iOS 14, new privacy features have been introduced giving more control to the user. A new option allows users to choose to share their approximate location with app developers rather than their precise location when granting an app location access. Users also get more transparency into an app’s usage of the device camera and microphone. Developers can now offer users the option to upgrade their existing accounts to Sign in with Apple.
Listening Experience from AirPods has also been increased in iOS 14. AirPods Pro have received Spatial audio feature that brings a theater-like experience to the user. It applies directional audio filters and subtly adjusts the frequencies each ear receives. Sounds can be placed virtually anywhere in a space to provide an immersive listening experience.
A new accessibility feature named Headphone accommodations amplifies soft sounds and tunes audio to help music, movies, phone calls, and podcasts sound crisper and clearer. Automatic device switching switches AirPods and AirPods Pro audio between iPhone, iPad, and Mac very easily.
Additional iOS 14 includes updates for translate and Siri. Translate now offers a natural translation of voice and text among 11 different languages. On-device mode allows users to experience the features of the app offline for private voice and text translation. iOS 14 is available as a free software update starting today for iPhone 6s and later.
More additional iOS 14 features are listed below.
- Siri expands its knowledge and answers complex questions with information sourced from across the internet. Keyboard dictation runs on the device when dictating messages, notes, email, and more.7
- The Home app makes smart home control even easier with new automation suggestions and expanded controls in Control Center for quicker access to accessories and scenes. Adaptive Lighting for compatible HomeKit-enabled lights automatically adjusts the color temperature throughout the day, and Face Recognition in compatible video doorbells and cameras uses on-device intelligence from Apple TV or HomePod to identify visitors. The Home app and HomeKit are built to be private and secure, so all information about a user’s home accessories is end-to-end encrypted.
- Digital versions of car keys give users a secure way to use the iPhone to unlock and start their car. Car keys can be easily shared using Messages or disabled through iCloud if a device is lost, and are available today for compatible cars using NFC technology.8
- Safari offers a Privacy Report so users can easily see which cross-site trackers have been blocked, secure password monitoring to help users detect saved passwords that may have been involved in a data breach, and built-in translation for entire webpages.9
- Health has all-new experiences to manage sleep and better understand audio levels that may affect hearing health. A new Health Checklist that includes Emergency SOS, Medical ID, ECG, fall detection, and more offers users a centralized place to manage health and safety features.10 Health also adds support for new data types for mobility, Health Records, symptoms, and ECG.
- The Weather app keeps users up to date on severe weather events, and a new next-hour precipitation chart shows minute-by-minute precipitation when rain is in the forecast.11
- Apple One is the easiest way to get many Apple subscription services at a great value, so customers can choose the one plan that is right for them or their whole family. Customers can sign up for Apple One starting this fall.
- Accessibility features include Back Tap, which offers a quick new way to trigger gestures, tasks, and accessibility shortcuts, sign language detection in Group FaceTime, and Sound Recognition, which uses on-device intelligence to notify users when the sound of a fire alarm or doorbell is detected. VoiceOver, the industry’s leading screen reader for the blind community, now automatically recognizes what is displayed visually onscreen so more apps and web experiences are accessible to more people.
Are you looking forward to using iOS 14? Which new feature is your favorite and why? Let us know in the comments section below.
